In articles of jewelry, such as pendants, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings and bands, the mounting of gemstones, such as diamonds and other stones, may be accomplished in a variety of ways. The more conventional of these various mounting configurations is through the use of prongs or prong settings. Channel settings are also often used, typically to mount a plurality of stones adjacent each other in a line or a row. Invisible mounting is another generally known type of mounting and is often used in an effort to create the appearance that the stone is not supported in its mounting. Each of these generally known mounting procedures is quite conventional in the jewelry industry and while each has it attributes, each also has its limitations.
In a prong setting, each gemstone, typically a diamond, having any one of a number of shapes, is held in a setting which includes a plurality of spaced, upstanding prongs or fingers. Since most gemstones have an upper, faceted crown, a central girdle and a lower pavilion, the prongs or fingers of the typical prong setting must be made to engage at least the lower portion of the crown, generally above the girdle, and the upper portion of the pavilion, as well as the girdle in order to securely hold the stone in the setting. Although there are many variations on this prong mounting or setting structure, the essential characteristic of all such prong settings is the engagement of a part of the stone's crown, pavilion and girdle with a plurality of spaced metal prongs or fingers.
Such prong settings have several limitations. The first is that a portion of at least one facet of the stone's crown is obstructed by the prongs which engage it. Such an obstruction reduces the visual impact of the stone. Since there must be provided a plurality of such prongs in a prong setting, portions of a plurality of the facets of the stone are obstructed. The brilliance, scintillation or color dispersion of a stone is, at least in part, a function of its faceting. When one or more facets are obstructed, the result is a reduction in the set stone's apparent brilliance.
Another limitation of prong settings is their propensity to loosen. Since an effort is made to keep the prongs as visually unobtrusive as possible, these prongs may not have the structural rigidity that is essential to retain the stone in the setting. The result is the possible loss of the stone. The resulting loss of a valuable gemstone, because of the failure of a prong setting to securely hold the stone, is not an acceptable occurrence. A compromise must thus be made between secure stone support and loss of stone brilliance.
Prong settings are also prone to catch on articles of clothing. Again, since each prong in the setting includes a free end or edge, that has to project above the stone's girdle and which is essentially deformed to hold the stone in the setting, there will inevitably be a prong tip or a point that can become caught in the fabric of gloves, clothing and the like. Such an occurrence is an inconvenience and may also result in damage to the clothing.
In an effort to alleviate the drawbacks of conventional prong settings, the jewelry industry has turned to the use of channel settings. In such channel settings, which are more frequently used to hold a grouping of stones, and which are most specifically utilized to set a row of stones, the article of jewelry is provided with a channel or groove. The pavilion of the stone will be positioned within the confines of the channel. The girdle of the stone will also be situated within the channel and adjacent, but beneath the channel's upper rim. That upper rim of the channel will then be deformed slightly inwardly to engage the crown of the stone, just above the girdle.
Channel settings are not subject to several of the problems inherent with prong settings. They typically do not loosen and they do not catch in clothing. However, a significant limitation of such a channel setting is that the bulk of the stone is located within the channel and is below the level of the top surface of the piece of jewelry. The placement of the stones in such a channel setting thus significantly limits the brilliance or scintillation that the stones in the resultant piece of jewelry are able to provide. Placement of the stones in such a channel effectively submerses them within the article of jewelry.
In an effort to overcome the limitations of channel settings, without also incurring the drawbacks of prong settings, the jewelry industry often utilizes invisible settings. These settings, as their name implies, are attempts to make the setting invisible so that the stone or stones will appear to be unsupported. In an invisible setting, each stone has a groove or slot cut into its girdle. A piece of wire or a thin band is positioned in the article of jewelry and is located so that it will be received in the girdle slot of each stone that is to be held in the mounting. If several rows of stones are to be placed side by side, there need be provided a grid arrangement of thin wires or bands, all of which must be placed in the grooves which have been cut into the girdles of all of the stones intended to be held by such an invisible mounting.
No setting can be truly invisible, and since all settings must retain the stone or stones in place, invisible settings typically at least partially cover the faceted crown and the table of the gemstones and particularly the ones of the stones which border the edges of the channel or recess that provides a location for the wires or bands which fit into the grooved girdles. The girdles and crowns of the peripheral stones then engage the walls of the channel, which walls, at least partially overlap the crown facets and reduce the brilliance of the stones. Such invisible mountings do not completely overcome the limitations of channel mountings and still compromise the brilliance and sparkle of the mounted gemstones.
Invisible settings are notoriously insecure. The very nature of the use of a small groove in a stone's girdle, and the placement of a fine wire into the groove, is one that makes invisible settings delicate. Also, since the thin wires or bands which are used to hold the stones, are easily bent or broken, the piece of jewelry, which is typically a ring, cannot be easily sized. Changing the ring size of the piece of jewelry, even within reasonable ranges, is apt to either loosen or to break the wires or bands, with a resultant loss of the retained gemstones.
It is apparent that a need still exists for a jewelry mounting that provides for the mounting of the gemstones in a manner in which they appear to be unsupported or floating, while not compromising their brilliance and scintillation or color dispersion. At the same time, the mounting must overcome the limitations of the prior art and must be able to hold the article's gemstones securely. The jewelry article with linear stone settings, in accordance with the present invention, provides such a mounting. It is a substantial advance over the prior art.